Always There
by UnfadingLove
Summary: In Tulsa, life as a Greaser isn't easy. The gang learns an important lesson about each other and about life with the help of Red and Ember Evans. Pairings: DallasXOC, PonyboyXOC


Always There: An Outsiders Fan Fiction

Author's Note

I read The Outsiders when I was in sixth grade, and didn't really get into it. I don't usually get into books that I am forced to read. In seventh grade, I started reading it again. In eighth grade, I created an almost unhealthy obsession with this book. I love it! I think that it is amazing that Susan wrote it when she was sixteen, and was published when she was seventeen. It really inspires me to write. I love how brotherly her characters are, and how much of a family they seem like. I guess it's that closeness that we all long for with people in or outside our own family. This book also makes you think... if Dallas had someone to show him that he means something... if someone could have showed Johnny the love he deserved. Just a disclaimer, I don't own any of these characters besides Ember and Madeline. The storyline is based off the genius work of the amazing S.E. Hinton in The Outsiders. If you haven't read her book, read it! I also don't own any other titles that may be mentioned in this.

Thank you for reading!

Chapter One

It was another cool and cloudy morning in Tulsa. Me and my little sister Ember were walking down the street to the Curtis house. I was wearing my dark gray hoodie and shorts, while Em was wearing her green jacket and jeans. Her liquid brown eyes peered through the fog curiously. She looked up at me and slid the hood off my head. "You curled your hair!" she exclaimed, beaming.

I laughed and nodded, running my fingers through my hair. "I did. Do you like it?"

"I love it! Wait 'til Dal-"

"Ember!" I blushed wildly. "Shh!"

Darry was walking out of the house and had almost reached the gate. He looked at us and pretended that he hadn't heard what Ember almost spilled. "You girls might want to hurry inside. Two-Bit's got Pony pinned down to the floor." He grinned. "I told Dally to break it up, but I think he just opened another beer instead." Darry looked at me carefully, his eyes searching mine.

Dallas was bad news. I get in enough trouble as it is, and Dally was not the guy that Darry wanted me to be with. He wanted me to be with Johnny, not that I blame him. Johnny was such a sweetie, but Dallas had something that kept me riveted to him. It was probably the thrill of danger I got whenever I sneak around places with him. Johnny was my best friend, and I've never seen him as more than that. Sometimes he came over to my house to sleep over when his dad was really hacked off about something. We talk a lot, but not as much as he talks to Ponyboy. Darry told me once, when I was fourteen, that even Steve would be a good match for me. I saw Steve as a brother. Dallas has always intimidated me with his curtness and his being nonchalant all the time, but I fight back with cynical remarks of my own.

Ember went through the gate first, kissing Darry's cheek lightly. She disappeared through the door. Darry touched my arm. "He's in a... bad mood." he said slowly. I nodded.

Last year, I told Darry how I felt about Dallas. He wasn't happy with me, but he seemed to finally accept it.

Ember was two when our parents died. I was four. We used to live in a huge house, where the Socs live. After our parents dropped us off at daycare, like they usually do before taking off to work, they went back home. The police report says that the fire was an accident, but I think that my parents had just had enough of all the talk our neighbors did, all the fighting, all the high standards the neighborhood had.

We were given to my poor grandmother who didn't have enough money to even feed a dog. She was the last of our family. She was our only choice. She tried to be there for us, but she always ended up saying, "You young folk cost too much. Go get your dinner somewhere else." Or she'd say, "You need new clothes? Go sneak into the neighbor's house. They have a girl your age." After a while, it was me who ended up taking care of her. She was eighty-eight when I was fifteen. I think she's about to go soon. By go, I mean die.

I walked up to the house and opened the door. Two-Bit was hollering at Ponyboy for eating the last of the chocolate cake. Dallas was watching TV and Sodapop came out of his room with Ember tugging at his arm. "Make 'em stop, Soda!" she begged.

"Two-Bit! Now look what you did! There's cake crumbs all over!" Soda exclaimed, having scoped out the damage. Two-Bit got off Pony.

"You're sounding like Darry. Lighten up," Two-Bit grinned. He combed his hair back a little and sat next to Dally. Ponyboy just stared at him.

"Come one, Ponyboy. I'll help you clean up," Ember offered.

I walked into the kitchen and looked in the fridge. "Did Dal drink all the beer, Soda?" I called out, a smile playing on my lips. I heard Two-Bit chuckle. Dallas walked in, giving me a look.

"You calling me a drunk, Red?"

My name isn't Red. It's Madeline Kaye Evans. The gang calls me Red because of my quick temper. They just call Ember, Em or Emmy. She's fourteen, and I'm sixteen. I've taken care of her for as long as I can remember, with the gang's help, of course. Without them, I don't know where we'd be today. At first, as we grew older, they were all weary of us. As young as we all were, we still knew Greasers from Socs and Socs from Greasers. Once they realized that we were alright, we were slowly accepted. We grew up together. All of us.

"I'm not saying nothing." I shot back.

"Why do you want beer anyway, kid?" he asked, giving me a bitter smirk.

"Don't call me kid, Dally. You know better." He laughed.

"You wouldn't hurt me."

"I hurt Steve."

He seemed to think it over. "You couldn't even touch me." I stepped closer to him.

"Are you sure about that?" I challenged him, smiling faintly. He leaned against the wall as I stepped closer. He smirked and wrapped an arm around my waist.

"If you won't touch me, I'll touch you." he whispered softly in my ear. I could smell the alcohol on his breath. I didn't know what to do. I slapped him.

"What the hell?" I managed to get out, backing away. I huffed angrily, my cheeks hot. He gave me a stunned look.

"What?" I grabbed a beer and popped it open. He took it away from me before I could take a drink. "No drinking. You're too young."

"I'm older thank you were when you started," I argued.

"You're not me." He glared at me. I brushed past him and sat on the couch. Two-Bit glanced at me. Just then, Steve burst in.

"Where's the cake?" he asked, already in the kitchen.

"Not again," Ponyboy moaned. Ember giggled.

"Steve, we're going to be late," Soda said. Steve poked his head out.

"I need food."

"You ate enough yesterday to last you a month. There's no way you're hungry now," Two-Bit said, half in awe. Ember laughed and met my eyes. She looked concerned. I looked away.

"Come on, Steve." Sodapop tried again, pulling on his white shirt. He slipped on his uniform jacket and gave me a wink. Steve had an apple in his hand as he walked after Soda out the door.

Dallas sat next to me, putting me in between him and Two-Bit. I crossed my legs. "I hate cartoons." Dallas mumbled.

"How can you hate Mickey?" Two-Bit asked.

"He's a mouse." Dally grinned.

"You love it," I smiled. He looked at me, as if he was surprised I was talking to him.

"Sure I do."

Two-Bit stood up and pulled me up with him. "Come on. You're ditching school."

"Alright." I followed him.

"Where are you going?" Dallas called, standing at the front door.

"What's it to you?" I called back. Two-Bit stuffed his hands in his pockets and started walking down the street. I walked by his side. "Where _are_ we going?"

"Just walking. Maybe we'll head over to Buck's since you like his place so much," He scrunched his nose.

"All I said was that I dug Hank Williams. Not that I like it there." I laughed. He looked at me seriously. "What did you want to talk about?" I asked.

"Dallas."

"What about him?" I shrugged and kicked a rock. I looked back up at him. "Does everyone know?"

"They should, but they don't." He looked at the street. "You know, Red, you're like my sister. I just... don't want to see you-"

"Get hurt." I finished. "Darry already used that line on me. I don't see why you guys can't let me live my life the way I want to."

He glanced at me. "We care about you. You know that Dally's no good... for you." He sighed. I could see him trying to figure out the right words to say. "Dally's my buddy, but you know him as well as I do. You understand, don't you? You know what he does with the girls he ends up with anyway."

I crossed my arms and nodded slowly. "Gets 'em drunk and bangs 'em." I said bluntly. He gave me a shocked look. "Yeah, I know exactly what his reputation is."

"He's tried to stay in a relationship before," Two-Bit tried.

"You see the kind of girl he likes to pick? Greaser sluts. Why would he pick me?" I stopped walking and leaned against the chain link fence.

"I don't like heart to heart talks. Heck, I can't even stand those cheesy moments in movies, but I'll cave this time. He'd be crazy not to want you, and trust me, he does." Two-Bit stood in front of me and kicked at a tuft of grass. He smiled up at me sheepishly. "You're a catch."

"Am not. You better shut your mouth before I shut it up for you." I smiled a little and he laughed.

"Let's go to the DX. I want a Pepsi."

I sighed and shrugged. "I don't know why you insist on drinking that," I teased. "Coke is way better."

"Is not," He laughed again. "I'm not fighting with you."

I laughed. "You going soft on me, Keith?"

He pulled out his switchblade and twirled is in his hand. "Naw," He grinned.

We walked the rest of the way in a comfortable silence, him playing with his blade still. I waited outside the store while he went in to buy the drinks. I pulled my hoodie over my head and watched the rain droplets disturb a puddle in ripples.

I'm not perfect. Hell, no one is. I'm not like the other Greaser girls who drink a lot, wear too much make-up, and get around more than a bus does. I'm not a Soc girl who spends the afternoon prepping herself for a date with a popular Soc guy who has madras and a fancy blue Corvair. I don't have a lot of money. I live in a one bedroom house where me and Ember sleep on a couch while my grandmother sleeps in her twin sized bed. We have just enough food to get by. I work and try to pay off the remainder of my grandmother's bills. I understand how Darry and Sodapop feel with their jobs. I'm not complaining about anything. Greaser life is bad, but bearable. That is, not including the Soc's interference.

The Socs have always tried to keep their distance, but find one way or another to beat us up. A group of Greaser girls were out one night and a car full of Socs trapped them in the alley to take advantage of them. That was last year.

Since then, things haven't gotten that intense. The boundaries are starting to shake again though. I can feel it.

Two-Bit came out with my drink and handed it to me. "Thanks," I smiled.

"No problem. Hey, I have to go meet up with Evie. Do you think..." He winced. "I'm sorry I'm just ditching you."

I laughed. "Go hang out with your girl." I hugged him. "Thank you." He smiled and hugged me back.

"Anytime, Red. I'll see you later." He left and I started walking back to the Curtis house, not sure where else to go where I belonged.


End file.
